Is run-off wrecking the reef?

INSPIRED by the population studies that found a link between smoking and lung cancer, reef scientists have compiled what could be the most compelling evidence yet that farming is harming the Great Barrier Reef.

There has been a vitriolic debate about whether or not Queensland's farms are damaging the reef. Conservationists argue that the increased run-off of agricultural sediments, nutrients and chemicals has reduced coral cover and biodiversity in recent years. On the other hand, farmers claim that shoddy science is being used to sway public opinion and bulldoze them into adopting uneconomic practices. Scientists fall into both of these camps (New Scientist, 4 January, p 8).

The trouble is a direct link is very hard to prove. The water quality naturally fluctuates, and there are threats to the reef's health from global warming, cyclones and occasional plagues of crown-of-thorn starfish. The historic record of what the reef should ...

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